Lamp

ABSTRACT

A lamp has a lamp body having a first socket and a second socket configured to receive matching bases of a tubular fluorescent light. At least the first socket has a housing that is of such a design that the housing, with a base of the fluorescent tube received and electrically contacted in the first socket, is detachably connected to the lamp body. The detachable connection is a snap connection having a bore and a matching pin that can be secured in the bore by a snap element engaging a locking recess on the pin.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a lamp having two sockets for receivingmatching bases of a tubular fluorescent light.

2. Description of the Related Art

In order to mechanically secure the tubular fluorescent light of a lampwithin the lamp body while supplying the fluorescent light with theneeded electrical voltage, the ends of the lamp body have a respectivesocket for the two bases of the fluorescent light. There are two typesof sockets for fluorescent lights. Firstly, a rotary socket is known butthe securing action for the fluorescent light in such rotary sockets isdisadvantageously not optimal. Secondly, there are plug-in sockets whichhave the advantage that they strongly clamp the base pins of thefluorescent light upon insertion of the light into the socket and thusprevent the fluorescent light from sliding out of the socket.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a lamp of a modulardesign and configuration.

In accordance with the present invention, this is achieved in that atleast one of the two sockets is arranged in a housing that is separatefrom the actual lamp body and can be detachably arranged at the lampbody together with a tubular fluorescent light contacted therein.

This provides a modular plug-in system for lamps that use fluorescentlights. Of the above mentioned two possible conventional sockets, i.e.,a rotary socket and a plug-in socket, the lamp according to theinvention employs the latter. The basic idea of the inventive lamp isthat first the two housings with the respective sockets arranged thereinare placed onto the two bases of the fluorescent light, and thehousings, together with the attached fluorescent light, are fastenedsubsequently to the actual lamp body, wherein, according to theinvention, the housings are to be designed such that they are detachablein a technically simple manner in order to thus be able to exchange adefective fluorescent light without problems. It is important in thiscontext that the housing with its socket is embodied as a separate partthat is detachable from the actual lamp body. The housing for thesockets can be epipedal, especially a cube. Any other form or shape ofthe housing is, of course, also imaginable and usable. Since the basesof the fluorescent lights are in the form of plug-in bases, they arefixedly connected within the housing, and since, moreover, the housingsare fixedly arranged at the actual lamp body, there is no risk that thefluorescent light could accidentally become detached from the plug-insockets. This is true especially when the housings are directlyconnected to the actual lamp body.

According to a further embodiment, the base of the fluorescent light iscompletely received in the respective housing. This has the advantagethat the two ends of the fluorescent light are secured extremely safelywithin the lamp body. Moreover, the bases of the fluorescent light arecovered visually by the housing and can thus not be seen by an onlooker,which improves the visual appearance of the lamp. This can betechnically solved in a simple manner in that the housing has a singleopening for receiving the bases of the fluorescent lights whileotherwise the housing is completely closed. When the housing isepipedal, especially a cube, that side of the housing which faces thebase of the fluorescent light is removed.

In another preferred technical embodiment the housing is arranged bymeans of a releasable snap connection to the lamp body. Accordingly, aplug-in system is disclosed which functions as follows. First, the twohousings are secured onto the two bases at the ends of the fluorescentlight. Subsequently, the housings with their snap or locking elementsare snapped into place in the matching snap or locking elements providedat the lamp body, and this completes mounting of the lamp. By releasingthe snap elements, the housings and thus the fluorescent light can againbe removed.

In a concrete technical realization of this releasable snap connection,the lamp body and the housing have a bore and a matching pin insertableinto the bore wherein the pin can be secured in the bore. Preferably,pins are provided on the housings which, after placement of the twohousings onto the bases at the ends of the fluorescent light, areinserted into bores of the lamp body so that they are correctlypositioned. It is then only required to secure the pins in the bores ofthe lamp body. This can be achieved by a special locking arrangement.The pins and the bores can have a round cross-section. However, they canalso be embodied with a cross-section that is not round, especially, anangular cross-section.

A further embodiment concerns so-called suspended lamps wherein the pinis embodied at the upper end of a rod which projects perpendicularlyupwardly from the housing. In such a design, the fluorescent light isarranged at a spacing below the actual lamp body. In this case, thesuspending rods at the same time also provide the attachment of thehousings at the lamp body. When the rods have a tendency to swing, anadditional securing device for the bases of the fluorescent lights canbe provided within the housing.

According to a further embodiment, the electrical supply cable is“invisible” in that it is guided through the rod and/or the pin. Afurther advantage of this arrangement is that the housings are stillsecured to the lamp body by the electric cable even if the housingsbecome detached from the lamp body.

In a further embodiment, the lamp body and the pin are provided with alocking arrangement comprised of a locking recess and a correspondingspring-loaded snap element. This has the advantage that a technicallysimple fixation of the pins in the correlated bores is possible. Thespring-loaded snap elements engage the corresponding locking recess uponinsertion of the pin into the bore so that the housing is securely heldat the lamp body. The locking recess can be, for example, an annulargroove provided on the pin. The spring-loaded snap element can be a pin.

The configuration of the releasable snap connection is preferably suchthat upon pulling the pin out of the bore, the snap element isautomatically moved out of the locking recess by respectively providedguide surfaces. This has the advantage that the fluorescent light can beremoved without requiring tools. It is only necessary to pull the twohousings with the sockets in a downward direction. With correspondinglydesigned guide surfaces, the snap element is forced to the rear counterto the force of the spring loading the snap element. The guide surfacescan be convex or concave spherical surfaces.

The lamp body and the housing can have a releasable snap connectioncomprised of a locking pawl and a matching locking recess. This is analternative to the pin/bore configuration of the releasable snapconnection in which the pin is rigid. This alternative comprises thus alocking pawl which in itself is spring-elastic and which upon insertioninto the matching recess snaps into a corresponding locking recess.

It is conventional to provide all light-guiding or glare-reducingelements, for example, louvers or diffusers, at the lamp body or at thehousing of the base. According to the invention, such light-guidingelements can be fastened directly to the fluorescent light, for example,simply by being suspended therefrom.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the lamp according to the presentinvention in a perspective view;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section of the lamp of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section along the line III—III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the lamp;

FIG. 5 is a perspective illustration of a second embodiment that isbased on the technical principles of the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment as an alternative to the secondembodiment for a lamp of a suspended design;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal section of the lamp of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a section along the line VIII—VIII of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the lamp of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the FIGS. 1 through 4, a first embodiment, in FIG. 5 a secondembodiment, and in the FIGS. 6 through 9 a third embodiment of the lampaccording to the present invention are illustrated.

The first embodiment of the lamp illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 4 has alamp body 1 which is directly fastened to the ceiling. As illustrated inFIGS. 2 through 4, the lamp body 1 has at its ends a respective verticalbore 2. Transverse to this bore 2 a spring-loaded snap element 3 isarranged and projects with its leading end into this bore 2. The leadingend of the snap element 3 is shaped as a spherical segment.

Moreover, the lamp has two cube-shaped housings 4. One sidewall of eachhousing 4 is open. In the interior of the housing 4 the socket 5 isrespectively arranged. The upper side of the housing 4 is provided witha pin 6 projecting vertically outwardly. It has a locking recess 7arranged such that it is positioned at the location of the snap elements3 when inserted. The recess 7 is formed as a circumferential annulargroove.

The function of the lamp of FIGS. 1 through 4 is as follows:

A fluorescent light 8 to be mounted within the lamp 1 has at its twoends a respective base 9. A housing 4 with socket 5 is placed onto eachone of these two bases 9. In this way, on the one hand, the fluorescentlight 8 is secured and, on the other hand, electrical contact with anelectrical power supply is provided. This electrical power supply isrealized by a cable, not shown, which is guided through the pins 6 intothe sockets 5. The thus assembled unit comprised of first housing 4,fluorescent light 8, second housing 4 is then inserted into therespective bores 2 in the lamp body 1 with the pins 6 leading. The snapelements 3 of the lamp body 1 move into the locking recesses 7 of thepins 6 and snap into place. This means that the housings 4 are securedin their position.

In order to be able to replace a fluorescent light 8, it is onlynecessary to pull the two housings 4 downwardly and subsequently removethe two housings 4 outwardly in opposite directions from the fluorescentlight 8 so that the bases 9 are pulled out of the sockets 5. In thisstate, the two housings 4 are suspended from the electrical supplycables.

The second embodiment of the lamp in FIG. 5 shows a lamp with a squarebasic structure. This means that four lamp bodies 1 of the firstembodiment of FIGS. 1 through 4 are combined to form the squareconfiguration. This configuration can also be directly connected to theceiling. The basic principle is the same as that of the individual lampbodies 1 of the first embodiment.

The third embodiment of FIGS. 6 through 9 differs from the secondembodiment of FIG. 5 only in that the pins 6 are elongated to formsuspending rods 10. This means that the fluorescent light 8 is suspendedfrom the lamp body 1 fastened to the ceiling, as is illustratedespecially in FIG. 6. Otherwise, this third embodiment is identical tothat of the second embodiment.

Of course, it is also imaginable to employ only a single lamp body 1 asillustrated in the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 4, but to extendthe pins 6 to form rods 10 so that an individual lamp 1 with fluorescentlight 8 can also have a suspended configuration.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed in detail to illustrate the inventive principles, it will beunderstood that the invention may be embodied otherwise withoutdeparting from such principles.

What is claimed is:
 1. A lamp comprising: a lamp body (1) having opposedends; a first separate housing (4) having a first plug-in socket (5) anda second separate housing (4) having a second plug-in socket (5),wherein said first and second separate housings (4) are configured to bedetachably connected to said lamp body (1); wherein said first andsecond plug-in sockets (5) are configured to receive bases of a tubularfluorescent light (8); wherein, for assembling said lamp, said first andsecond separate housings (4) with said first and second plug-in sockets(5) are placed onto the bases of the tubular fluorescent light (8)forming an assembled unit comprised of said first housing (4), thetubular fluorescent light, and said second housing (4); wherein saidassembled unit is subsequently connected via said first and secondhousings (4) to said lamp body (1); wherein said lamp body (1) and saidfirst and second separate housings (4) are connected by a releasablesnap connection, respectively, and wherein said releasable snapconnection comprises a bore (2) arranged in said first and secondhousings (4) or said lamp body (1) and a matching pin (6) releasableinserted and secured in said bore (2) and arranged on said lamp body (1)or said first and second housings (4); further comprising electricalsupply cables guided within said pins (6); and wherein said first andsecond housings (4), after having been detached from said lamp body (1),are suspended from said electrical supply cables.
 2. The lamp accordingto claim 1, wherein said first and second housings (4) are configured tocompletely receive the bases of the fluorescent tube (8).
 3. The lampaccording to claim 1, further comprising light-guiding elementssuspended from the fluorescent tube (8).
 4. The lamp according to claim1, wherein said first and second housings (4) comprise a rod (10)projecting vertically upwardly from said first and second housings (4)and wherein said pin (6) is arranged at an upper end of said rod (10).5. The lamp according to claim 4, further comprising an electricalsupply cable guided within said rod (10) and said pin (6).
 6. The lampaccording to claim 1, wherein said pin (6) has a locking recess (7) andwherein said releasable snap connection comprises a spring-loaded snapelement (3) engaging said locking recess (7) for securing said pin (6)in said bore (2).
 7. The lamp according to claim 6, wherein said pin (6)has guide surfaces configured such that said snap element (3) isautomatically guided out of said recess (7) when pulling said pin (6)out of said bore (2).